W4: Changes
by nth
Summary: New Chap 9 up! The warlocks can't have Tainn, and the Charmed Ones are forced to make a choice.
1. Morning After

Blurb: Paige has to be head of the household, something's happened to Drew's power and they have a shape-shifter on their hands. It's a new world out there and all they know is, they have to deal with the changes. 

_Disclaimer: Sorry. Hehe. Paige doesn't belong to me, along with a lot of other Charmed stuff, (BoS, you know the drill). Everything else, I cooked up, so they're mine. Coolie. _

Notes:This takes place after "The Power Without", my other fic, so it'd be a good idea to read that first, right? Right! So here it is, "Changes". Enjoy! 

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Changes

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The morning sunshine streamed into the room of the late Piper Halliwell, bouncing off of the different furnishings and off of the dusty walls and ceiling, illuminating dark nooks and crannies. Julia slept in one of two beds in the room, snoring softly, unmindful of the smooth sound of a single violin. Clutching the instrument with her chin and right hand, holding the wooden bow with the left, Pru let loose with her nimble-fingered movements, producing the high peaks and low dips of the piece. She spun on her heel, playing with the passion and confidence of a concert violinist. Almost at the end of the song, she faced the door, where Paige stood, beaming at her talented niece. 

Pru released the bow from the strings, letting bow and instrument hang by her sides as her aunt clapped in appreciation. 

"You're great! You never told me you played!" 

Roused by her aunt's applause, Julia mumbled in her sleep, startling Paige. She turned over on her side and faced the wall, leaving Paige to blush in embarrassment. 

"Yeah," Pru responded quietly as she set the violin in its case on the bed. She strode quickly to the door, looking behind her to check if her sister was still asleep. Paige backed up, Pru closing the door behind her as she joined her aunt out in the hall. 

"Beethoven?" guessed Paige, as they walked towards the staircase. 

"Yeah. You play?" said Pru, smiling at her aunt's knowledge. 

"Oh, no!" Paige shook her head furiously. "Just one of the few things I actually learned in music class." 

The two continued down the stairs when Paige caught a whiff of their morning meal and was reminded of the reason why she came up to Pru and Julia's room in the first place. "Oh yeah, thanks for fixing breakfast, although you know, you should have just let me do it." 

"No, I enjoy doing it really." 

"Ah. Coz I set my alarm early so I could fix you guys breakfast, and I came down, and then-" 

"Oh. Sorry." 

"That's okay! Just, you know, let _me_ handle stuff. I am your aunt and guardian-" 

"Aah!" 

Pru and Paige had hardly sat down to enjoy their omelet and sausages when Drew's yell echoed in from upstairs. 


	2. The Old One

It was in the early hours of the morning, sometime in the stretch between the witching hour and the rising of the sun. The gray wolf had been evading her captors for a time, and having reached what she could only call home, she had called upon the guardian spirits of the forest to shroud her location. She had then retreated to a rock formation near a river and, tired from her running, she had hesitantly lain her head down to rest. 

She woke with no inkling of trouble in her area, and blamed the rustling trees for rousing her. She then poked her nose out from the undergrowth, sniffing the air. Sensing no further danger, she slid out from the shelter of rocks quietly, carefully, checking to see none noticed her hiding place. She turned around to look at the cluster of bushes which hid her cave. She circled her dwelling clockwise, then counter-clockwise and clockwise again, singing a short tune in her mind. Satisfied at performing her spell perfectly, she scanned her surroundings before setting out to hunt. 

An alarm went off in her head, her senses screaming, "_They're back!_" She had only seconds to react when a spear impaled the ground a few inches from her. A whimper escaped her throat when she instantly recognized the spear's intricate design, carved in both its pole and flint head. 

_They killed Dezba,_ she thought-cried to herself. Another projectile, this time a bolt of green flame, brought her back to reality as she jumped to avoid near death. Though she could not see her attackers she knew exactly where they were, and immediately she took off running as fast as her four legs could take her. 

"She's getting away!" whined a female voice which seemed to originate from a small sparrow perched on a high birch branch. It flew down quietly and as it landed its body began to grow, its wings taking the shape of human hands, its talons thickening into human legs. "Get her!" she yelled, her beak having transformed into a whole mouth, to a bunch of unassuming foliage. At the sound of her voice, the illusion of greenery began to fade away, apparently controlled by a hand revealed inside. As more of the illusion disappeared, two men could be seen: one, a tall, dark-haired, black-eyed, handsome man with evident Italian descent; the other more brutish and muscular, with long blond locks and strikingly blue eyes, leaning towards a Nordic appearance. Both were dressed accordingly, the first in all black sweater, slacks and shoes, the second wearing a long gray coat over a maroon shirt, brown pants and loafers. 

"Don't worry, Cat. She can't run forever," said the dark-haired man to the now naked woman, the traces of her feral form having vanished completely. He and Cat shared the same black hair, narrow eyes and chiseled features, verifying their relationship as brother and sister. The three also seemed to be a common age, although age did not hold well with the lives of the living dead. 

The elements, on the other hand, did. A soft breeze was carried by the flowing water, making the female warlock shiver, struck by the sudden cold that her transformation had left her vulnerable to. The blond demon moved towards her, removing his coat to cover her. She wrapped the cloth around her, eyeing her brother expectantly. When he made no move to respond, she hissed, "Tony. My clothes?" 

Tony shrugged indifferently, entertaining himself with his sister's suffering. He then waved his hand over a patch of dirt, lifting the glamour off of the duffel bag beside him. 

"Give me that," snarled Cat, ripping open the bag to change into more comfortable apparel: a pink turtleneck, blue jeans and black boots. 

"You know, I like you even better without them on," said the blond, clutching Cat closer to his lumbering frame. 

"Later, Kian, darling. Later," she cooed, letting her long nails play with the buttons on her lover's shirt as she squeezed into her pants. 

"Cut the crap," muttered Tony to his two companions. "We have a situation." 

"I thought you said not to worry?" queried Cat coolly. 

"I was wrong," he admitted gravely. "She's going to get help." 

"From who? Witches? Problems easily killed," replied Kian. 

"Still. We can't afford people knowing about us. Everyone knows who the Old Ones are, even though everyone thinks they aren't real. That's why we kept it to the three of us, remember? Demons will be breathing down our necks once they find out." 

"They don't know that the Old Ones could-" Cat began to say, before a hand clapped her mouth. 

"Hush, Catarina," warned Kian. "Some spirits of the wild can talk. And the wolf may be able to speak their tongue." 

Wide-eyed, Cat looked at the two men with her, as Kian allowed her to talk. "So what do we do?" 

"She's bound to use her magic again," answered Tony. "I don't think she'll be able to convince any witch as a wolf. When she does, we find her, we kill her, then the power of all the Old Ones will be as good as ours." 


	3. Empath

Drew sat on the edge of his bed, staring off into space. He had woken up to the sound of rustling in the room, which he would later find out was the sound of his brother getting up to use the bathroom. He had woken up like he would on any other day in the manor: eyes fluttering, sitting up, thinking it was _still_ too early, lying down on the bed again. Then he would drift back to a state of near-sleep, and then suddenly jump out of bed, realizing it _wasn't _ too early and it was just the half-transparent window curtains which filtered the striking nine a.m. daylight. 

It was like any other day, except this time, the memories of yesterday's escapade came rushing back, reminding Drew that he was a witch and that he had been kidnapped and almost killed. He had magical powers that he never would have thought existed, and these powers were corrupted and almost stolen by a power broker. Who, surprisingly, had also been a witch before he defected and joined the ranks of brain-sucking demons. 

He _still_ had his powers, didn't he? 

At the idea of doubting the presence of his magic, Drew immediately opened his mind, reaching out to find another psyche to read. 

Contact- 

…scream. 

A searing pain rushed to Drew's side, as if his flesh were suddenly slashed by a knife. For a moment Drew was paralyzed, and as suddenly as it had come, the pain disappeared, leaving him breathless and his head racing. 

What- What was that?! 

"Drew!" 

"Are you okay?" 

It was then that Drew was suddenly aware of Pru holding him by the shoulders, and Paige hovering over them both in apprehension. Xan, in his white tank and blue shorts, arrived in a run from the bathroom; Julia was already leaning on the doorframe, her pink pajamas ruffled, her normally straight shoulder-length hair frizzy from static. 

It was then that Drew was also aware that he was wearing only blue checkered boxers. 

"Shit! Why is everyone here?" burst Drew, grabbing sheets to cover his near-nakedness. Paige's face screwed into a frown. "Didn't you scream?" she asked. 

"He did," Xan answered for his twin. "I could hear it across the hall." 

"I did?" said Drew, more to himself than to his family. 

"I woke up when I heard you. Proof enough?" mumbled Julia, stifling a yawn. 

"What happened?" inquired Pru. 

"I… I don't know. Nothing…" 

"Not _nothing_. You screamed. How _often_ does that happen?" Julia grinned. 

"It wasn't me- I- It was someone else's thoughts…" 

Puzzled by his brother's conundrum, Pru turned to face their aunt, who, with a determined look on her face, answered her questioning gaze. 

"Book of Shadows." 

~~~***~~~***~~~ 

The five residents of the manor were all in the attic, having eaten breakfast, cleaned up and changed into fresher clothes. While Aunt Paige scoured the book, Pru sat on the chaise couch, sipping a cup of coffee. Xan was playing with a handheld game console, while Julia, munching on a bag of sour cream & onion chips, watched over her brother's shoulder. Drew sat on a lonely iron stool, mulling the condition of his magic. 

"How about now?" 

At his aunt's request, Drew attempted to unlock his telepathic powers, but when before he was easily able to open any mind that was near enough, now nothing resulted from his endeavor. It was as if his power had simply left him. He looked at his aunt in dismay, shaking his head. 

"I don't understand it," Paige told her nephew. "Powers don't just disappear." 

"What about the power broker?" noted Xan, his eyes and Julia's still on the game he was playing. "Vanquishing him should have undone the magic. I can't understand it at all." 

"Maybe it didn't," Drew pointed out. Pru set down her coffee to glance at her brother. It wasn't like him to be pessimistic, but then again, they'd never had _powers_ before, let alone believed in them. Everything that was happening so far seemed so surreal. But there they were, witches in the flesh. 

"You okay?" Pru finally said to her troubled sibling. 

"Yeah," sighed Drew, putting his face into his hands. "I'm just… tired, that's all." 

"Look on the bright side," said Xan, handing his electronic gizmo to an elated Julia, "At least you aren't dead. Maybe your powers just changed a little." 

"Maybe your karma caught up with you," muttered Julia. 

"Julia may be right," considered Paige, getting her head out of the book. 

"What do you mean?" asked Julia, surprised. Her sister and brothers, with the same reaction, leaned in closer for their aunt's explanation. 

"Well, you _did_ misuse your powers somewhat," began Paige, pacing around the attic. "It's possible that the guys up there tweaked your powers." 

"Just because I used them on Julia a lot?" 

"You were given those powers to combat evil, Drew. Not to harass your sister." 

"In any case," said Xan thoughtfully, "you still have it. You were able to read someone's thoughts, right?" 

"Not thoughts," said Drew. "It was more like…" 

"Emotions?" offered Paige, reading off of the Book of Shadows. "You just might have empathy." 

"What's that?" asked Julia, before Drew could utter the question. 

"It's the ability to sense other people's feelings," said Xan, answering for his aunt. "Only Drew could feel someone else's pain. How'd that happen?" 

"Maybe there's more to Drew's power than just knowing others' emotions." Paige shrugged, failing to put the others at ease. 

Pru checked her watch, getting up from the couch. "I'm gonna fix lunch, if that's okay." Pru was up and out the door before Paige could protest. 

"Hey, Pru-" Paige started to scurry out the attic before she went back to Drew, asking, "Are you sure you're okay?" 

"I don't know," he mumbled. "I think I need help." 

Then the doorbell rang.   
  
  
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Notes: Yeah, um. About Drew's powers, I don't really know what happened. I just knew that I wanted to change it, or, I HAD to change it, for me to be able to continue with the other ideas I had for the W4 series. It was kind of drastic, I admit, but it had to be done. And I thought about the change waaay before I knew about Phoebe getting the power (it's true! I really did!), so don't think I'm just copying from the show. 

Anyhoo, empathy is much more fun. We've all seen how Phoebe uses it, though I won't quite follow the same idea on empathy as the show. You'll see more of it in my later stories. That's all! 

By the way, I'm using Native American names that I found on the net, and I might incorporate Native American rituals or practices. I'll do what I can and research to make sure I get things right and make things like that as accurate as possible. If I offend anyone, please email or put your thoughts on a review, and I'll fix or edit what I can. Thanks. 


	4. A Guest

"I'll get it!" called Pru, rushing down the stairs and to the front door. Her Aunt Paige followed, wanting seconds ago to stop her from preparing their family lunch. Now she bounded closely behind her to see who was at the door. 

With Paige by her side, Pru opened the front door. Before them was a petite woman, one who looked almost like a girl, if not for the mature yet soft look on her face and the aura of wisdom and that she exuded. Her eyes seemed as if they could see into souls, beyond outward appearances. They were a smoky dark gray color; her long, thick mane of jet-black hair containing streaks of the same hue. She wore a long, red cloth, a bit like a poncho, which hung on her shoulders, covering her whole body. 

"Hello," she greeted in a clear, strong voice, tinged with only a slight broken accent. She studied Pru for a few seconds before she announced, "I'm looking for the Charmed Ones." 

Pru studied her back, rolling her last words in her head before their meaning finally came clear. "Excuse me, what-" 

Interrupting her in mid-sentence was a slight breeze from outside, which slightly opened the visitor's cloak to reveal her badly dressed, injured right hand. 

"You're hurt!" said Paige, taking the woman by the shoulder and into the home. Pru, alarmed at her aunt's open welcome, quickly shut the door and followed them to the parlor. 

"Um, Aunt Paige…" Pru began, letting her words trail off as Paige settled their guest down on a sofa to look at her injury. A pattering of feet made her turn to see her brothers and sister descend the staircase, curious to see who had come to the manor. They crowded around her, with Julia popping the question. "Who's she?" 

Her sight not wavering from the stranger, Pru shrugged as Drew, Xan and Julia stared with her. At that moment Paige was gently unwrapping the fabric which only partly covered the deep gash running along the woman's arm. 

"It's nothing, really," the stranger said without a trace of pain in her voice, giving way to the idea that she experienced things like these often. "It'll heal on its own soon enough." 

Paige ignored her guest's dismissal of her wound, placing her hands over the abrasion. A soft glow began to radiate from her hands, with her cut gradually closing up. Pretty soon, not even a scratch could be seen on her skin. 

Xan spoke for his siblings when after his expression of utter awe had fleeted he said, "You never told us you could do that." 

"You never asked," responded Paige simply, her concern for their guest still apparent. "You 'kay?" 

The now fully healed woman looked at her arm, and then at her healer in wonder. "You're a whitelighter." Then she stood and turned to the foursome staring at her from the hall. "You must be the Charmed Ones." 

"Right! You know us… but we don't know you." 

The stranger chuckled softly, embarrassed at her rudeness. "I'm sorry. My name is Tainn, of the Old Ones. I need your help – warlocks are after me." 

"Um. _Hey,_" said Paige, waving her hand before her guest's face, "I'm _Paige_. These are my nephews and nieces: Drew, Pru, Julia and Xan." 

The four Madisons greeted their guest with their aunt's introduction, with Julia cutting to the chase. "Hi. Uh- an Old One? What's that? And why are warlocks after you?" 


	5. Listen

Just a little note before the story. 

I wanted to write more for this part, but unfortunately, I hit this block of not-knowing-what-to-do-next and I've been trying really hard to overcome it. And so far, I have been unsuccessful. Also, I've just started college, so finding time for myself won't be easy, but like I said, I will do my best to actually continue this and a lot ofother ideas I have stored in my mind before the seventh season and hopefully before Charmed ends. I really will! 

Of course, a few reviews wouldn't hurt. 

So here you go - Chapter V: Listen

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"They need- You see-" Tainn stammered, before a loud sigh. 

"Listen. 'A long time ago, there was a tribe, the Aiyana, who could draw the pure light of the earth - raw uncorrupted magic – to help their own people and to preserve their land. But because their numbers were growing slim, they chose to share their secrets by bestowing magic upon the animals they considered family. Their lives entwined with the earth's power, these sacred creatures would be able to protect the Aiyana's secrets and their land better than the tribe of witches ever could. 

"'Having lifetimes longer than normal people and animals, they were called 'Old Ones' and were deemed some of the strongest magical beings in existence and were sought after by many magic folk, both good and, unfortunately, evil. In order to keep their secrets safe from ill intentions, they decided to retreat into the depths of their sacred land, reachable only to those souls of great good and of even greater magic.'" 

Having finished her story, Tainn looked at the Halliwells, with dancing lights of hope in her eyes, meeting and somehow unnoticing the overwhelmed look from their wide stares. 

"Wow," said Xan at last as he gawked at their visitor. "That was…" 

"Long," whispered Julia, getting a chiding poke from Pru's elbow. "Ow." 

"Intense," breathed Drew, finishing his twin's sentence." 

"But what happened?" cut in Paige. "How did warlocks find you?" 

Tainn slumped in grief, and answered, "The very magic that we had been given was also our downfall. Once we were blessed with the Aiyana, we were able to turn human and were free to take part in the different societies which roamed our land. But when our group chose to hide ourselves from the outside world, not all of us agreed and chose instead to live among those people. That's how evil was able to get a hold of the power to find our kind. Through those of us who decided to join the human world." 


	6. Pru

"If being human is so dangerous," began Pru, "then why are you here as a girl?" 

"I wouldn't be able to communicate in my animal form. And the warlocks would have picked up on my scent- Can we please stop with these questions? We have to find a way to beat them." 

"Excuse us." Catching her aunt's wistful gaze, Pru led her aunt by the hand into the kitchen, with her brothers and sister trailing behind them. 

"We just let a complete stranger into our house," said Pru, looking her aunt straight in the eye. 

"Pru, if the pace picks up, complete strangers will be popping into the house every two days. Besides, you let _me_ into your house when _I_ was a complete stranger." 

"Okay, that is so not the point here. You're just going to go ahead and trust her?" 

Paige gave her niece a mock look of confusion before answering, "Going back to my being a complete stranger once-" 

"I trust her," declared Drew, absentmindedly scratching a non-existent wound on his right arm. 

At his brother's words, Pru let out a "What?" of exasperation. 

"I can't explain it. I… know she's being honest. Somehow." 

"Must be that new power kick of his," offered Xan, after studying the utter surprise on Pru's face. 

"This is crazy. We just can't let some… person waltz into the house and tell us what to do." 

"Pru, she already did," piped in Julia. 

Paige let that fact sink in before saying, "Like it or not, you're a Charmed One. It's your duty to give help to anyone who needs it." 

"Majority wins, huh?" said Pru, giving in. She bit her lip, searching for the right words to save her pride. Finding none, she instead told them, "Go on. I'm done ranting." 

"To the book then," said Julia to her aunt and brothers, slowly exiting the kitchen with Xan behind her. Paige offered a smile to her niece before heading out to accompany their visitor. In the kitchen, Drew remained to cheer up his sister. 

"I know your worried about me- about us. We can do this. You know that." 

"We _don't_ know that. Because these aren't normal problems. We can't be normal people anymore." 


	7. To the Book

It was nearing noontime in San Francisco, but the residents of the Halliwell manor had yet to prepare their meals, much less eat. In the musty attic, Xan, Julia and Paige hovered over the Book of Shadows, with mostly Xan and his aunt flipping through the old tome as Julia stood beside them, scanning the quickly changing text. Pru and Drew were just entering the attic, Paige looking up to greet them. 

"Hey." 

The two siblings responded with a nod, taking their places on the maroon couch where Tainn was already seated. Their guest sat with back straight, chin up and eyes set upon the three witches searching for information on their demons for the day. 

"Sure you don't want to see the book?" asked Paige to their guest. 

"No, thank you. I know nothing about your magic. Only you can find what we're looking for." 

"Thanks for the tip," Julia mumbled under her breath. After a few more page-turning, she sighed, muttering, "I quit." She hobbled to a rusting iron chair across the sofa, giving herself a rest. 

"Sorry if this only came to me now, but what exactly are we looking for again?" asked Xan to his aunt, who was still busy going through the book's pages while he had stopped, the meaning of their search suddenly having escaped him. 

"We're looking for anything about the Old Ones." 

"Why? We're gonna fight warlocks, so shouldn't we be looking for a vanquishing spell instead?" asked Pru. 

"What I'm thinking is, since these warlocks stole the powers of immortal witches, then we have to find a way to take the powers away from them first. Isn't that right, Tainn?" 

Tainn shook her head in reply. "Not entirely. We Old Ones aren't immortal. We only live longer than many other-" 

"_Magical creatures._ In any case, we still have to separate them from their powers," breathed Paige. A few more furious page-flipping followed before Paige threw her hands in exasperation. "I can't find anything in this damn book." 

Xan continued what seemed to be a fruitless search as Paige joined her extended family, idly waiting for new light to be shed on their situation. 

The tension slowly crept in as the Halliwells and the Old One began to see that Xan's intense perusal of the old tome would be in vain, until all of a sudden a grin spread on Xan's face. "Found it." 

"What? Let me see," said an excited Drew, as he and a dumbstruck Paige rose from the sofa to read Xan's find. 

And all of a sudden hard raps boomed through the manor - the sound of heavy knocking on the front door.


	8. Warlocks

With a crease of her forehead, Paige look up mouthed a "What?" as she crossed the attic to look through the bay window. 

"Who is it?" queried Pru with a look of worry. 

"No one's there," announced Paige with a look of worry. 

"That's weird," commented Pru. 

"By now nothing should be weird to you, Pru," quipped Xan, standing by the book. 

"At least they didn't knock down the door." 

"It might be a trap set by the warlocks!" cried Tainn with urgency. 

"Or just the neighbors playing ding-dong ditch. Who knows?" muttered Julia. 

"Someone's in a _good mood_ today," said Drew. 

"Yah. Well, that _someone_ was rudely woken up by a man-shriek and has yet to have lunch, so bite me." 

"Hey guys!" called Paige, catching Drew and Julia's attention and quieting them down. "Let's get serious, okay? There are warlocks after Tainn and they probably know what they're up against by now. We should know what we're up against too." 

"So what do you propose we do?" asked Drew. 

"We have to act fast. We need a plan," Tainn commanded. 

A moment later, Paige was creeping toward the front door, the Madisons and Tainn hiding behind furniture in the parlor. Paige took one last look behind her, making sure the others had her back, before she slowly opened the door. "Hello?" 

She stuck her head out the door. With quick turns, she surveyed the porch left and right before she yelled, "I don't think anyone's really here." 

A flutter of wings, and Paige orbed in reflex as a sparrow soared right by the spot where Paige had been. Behind it two warlocks materialized from nowhere, charging into the manor as the bird began to shift into her human form. 

"Where are you, witch?!" hissed Cat, her mouth having shaped itself from a beak. The two men, Tony and Kian, searched around for the house's residents. 

Paige orbed back into the parlor behind the couch where Julia and Pru were hiding. 

"Julia, now!" 

The youngest Madison rose, a signal for the others to come out of hiding, letting loose a bolt of electricity at the warlocks, striking Tony right in the chest and dumping him into an end table. The other warlock looked back at his fallen comrade and snarled at the witches who had come out of hiding, before his body began to swell, taking the form of a grizzly. 

Paige, the Madisons and Tainn stared at the fast growing bear before them. Xan glanced at the Old One, saying, "Okay, when you said big, you should have said really, really big." 

The bear bellowed before lumbering toward the six witches. Tainn glowered at the warlock as s he shrank, her clothes melding into her skin, taking a gray-brown tinge. Her nose and mouth were joining together and lengthening like her ears. She fell forward, her hands and feet having shriveled into paws. In the span of five seconds Tainn had shape-shifted into the form of a wolf, and once the transportation was complete, she leapt at the attacking bear, sinking her teeth into his flesh. 


	9. Death

Hardly feeling the wolf's bite on his bear arm, Kian tossed Tainn across the room, sending her crumpled onto the floor. He grunted before charging toward the Halliwells.

Instantly Xan let out a burst of solid energy, forming the wall between the witches and their animal adversary. Kian pounded on the force-field, as Xan struggled to hold the barrier between them.

"Guys," breathed Xan through gritted teeth, "I don't think I can keep this up for much longer."

"Way ahead of you," uttered Julia, lightning dancing on her palm. "You just let go and I'll-"

"You'll do nothing," hissed Kat, her hand poised with a blade over the wolf's throat as her brother Tony held its body above the floor. "One flick of a finger and the Old One's dead."

Their battle with the bear put on pause, Paige, her nephews and nieces looked in alarm as the she-warlock pressed the athame against their still conscious innocent's neck. "Stop!" cried Paige.

"Lose the lightning and we'll drop the blade," bargained Tony through labored breathing as he tried to suspend the wolf in his arms. With the belief that their side had won, Kian had begun to shift back from his ursine shape. "Hey, give me a hand here," commanded to Tony to his ally, who helped lift Tainn up once he was human again.

"Don't do it," whispered Drew to his youngest sister. His eyes glowed a deep purple, connecting with the wide eyes of Tainn.

"What?" blurted Julia, the electricity in her hands jumping with her sudden outrage.

"Do you want to kill Tainn?" Pru's words fell on deaf ears as Drew continued whispering to his other's sister and his brother.

"You want me to what?" asked Xan discreetly.

Sensing a plan at hand, their aunt began to stall the enemy. "You can't kill her," voiced out Paige to Tainn's captors. 'You need her."

"We need her _dead_. So her powers can be ours," explained Kat, a saccharine tone creeping into her words.

"Why don't you just blink away? Or... are you useless warlocks who can't blink?"

"Why you-"

Xan's shield vanished, and Julia flung a bolt of energy toward the warlocks. To their surprise, the blast struck Tainn, enveloping her in bright, white tendrils. She shook and fell to the ground, motionless.

The warlocks speechless, their sight switched from the dead Old One to the Charmed Ones. They glared contemptuously at Julia, their strategy having failed.

"Stupid witch. You don't know what you've just done."

"You're one of us now."

Their parting words said, the warlocks changed into a sparrow, a hawk and an eagle, flying over the witches' heads and out the manor.

"No," murmured Paige, in disbelief of their own actions. She ran to Tainn, laying her hands on the fallen wolf. A glimmering emanated from them, but stopped as soon as it had begun; Paige simply could not heal the dead.

"Drew..." gasped Pru.

"I-I don't know-" came Drew's reply. He was visibly shaken, as he only stuttered back when he was a small, insecure child.

"What have I done?" said Julia, her voice cracked with shock.


End file.
